US stocks surged higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve boosted its support of growth in the economy, a move widely expected on Wall Street.
The Federal Open Market Committee said it would "initially" buy $45 billion per month of longer-term Treasury securities, replacing its Operation Twist bond-swap program that expires at year-end.
The FOMC also said it would hold its current benchmark rate at the ultra-low 0-0.25 percent level as long as the jobless rate, now at 7.7 percent, stays above 6.5 percent, and the inflation outlook for the next one to two years is no more than 2.5 percent.
Wall Street stocks, which had sharply pared gains ahead of the FOMC statement released at 12:30 pm (1730 GMT), rose sharply.
At 1800 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 64.08 points (0.48 percent) at 13,312.52.
The S&P 500-stock index advanced 9.47 (0.66 percent) to 1,437.31, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite climbed 10.52 (0.35 percent) to 3,032.82.
